Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

Had to be Will Power. Not a fan of his to be honest. Friggin clown yells "show me some MFing respect" as he crossed the bricks. Great driver, don't get me wrong.

Anyway, I think there was some struggle with the new aero kits... less downforce caused some guys to get into the wall. James Davison was a gd disaster and should have been pulled off the effing track. The way Sato collided with him reminded me of Dixon hitting the left rear tire of Howard last year and going for a short flight. I don't know why race control didn't park him it was only a matter of time. Just glad someone did get killed (also Davison is the jagoff that talked crap about Hinch on Bump Day). Really bummed to see Karam have something break on his car, not a driver error and he was up to something like 6th or 7th. Rossi was doing flat out absurd things in that car; I thought he was going to win. I had picked TK and he looked great until he had a tire puncture; just ruined his day. Story of the day for me was actually Wilson getting up to the front. Heartbreaking seeing him head to the pits but he did a fantastic job and would have won if he caught a yellow up front. Would have been one unbelievable story.

Lastly, found it very interesting that Alonso was tweeting quite a bit on Sunday afternoon and it was all pro-Indy and had some commentary on Rossi's insane drive. I believe he'll be back in Indy for 2019. I believe Helio will get one last shot too. I'm gearing up for another road trip out there next May.

Originally Posted by Greg Ambrose on 3/7/2010

The fact that you BC fans revel in the superiority of your team in an admittedly weak league leads me to believe you will be more sorely disappointed when the end comes than we will.

Had to be Will Power. Not a fan of his to be honest. Friggin clown yells "show me some MFing respect" as he crossed the bricks. Great driver, don't get me wrong.

Anyway, I think there was some struggle with the new aero kits... less downforce caused some guys to get into the wall. James Davison was a gd disaster and should have been pulled off the effing track. The way Sato collided with him reminded me of Dixon hitting the left rear tire of Howard last year and going for a short flight. I don't know why race control didn't park him it was only a matter of time. Just glad someone did get killed (also Davison is the jagoff that talked crap about Hinch on Bump Day). Really bummed to see Karam have something break on his car, not a driver error and he was up to something like 6th or 7th. Rossi was doing flat out absurd things in that car; I thought he was going to win. I had picked TK and he looked great until he had a tire puncture; just ruined his day. Story of the day for me was actually Wilson getting up to the front. Heartbreaking seeing him head to the pits but he did a fantastic job and would have won if he caught a yellow up front. Would have been one unbelievable story.

Lastly, found it very interesting that Alonso was tweeting quite a bit on Sunday afternoon and it was all pro-Indy and had some commentary on Rossi's insane drive. I believe he'll be back in Indy for 2019. I believe Helio will get one last shot too. I'm gearing up for another road trip out there next May.

Yeah, Davison and some of the other field fillers are just trainwrecks.

I saw Alonso’s posts and comparing them too his comments on Monaco and the rumor McLaren will partner with Andretti for a full season in 2019 this could bevFernando tipping his hand for future plans.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

Originally Posted by solovsfett

Lots of empty seats at Indy...yikes

I think as the race wore on, people were seeking some respite from the sun and heat. At the beginning of the race there were more people in the north grandstands (or anywhere in the sun). Indy claimed it was a bigger crowd than 2015 or last year. Certainly not on a par with 2016, though. When it is in the low 90s those grandstands are just brutal. My sister suffered a pretty serious case of heat exhaustion at the 400 there in the early 2000s when the air temp was supposedly upper 80s.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

Originally Posted by WeAreNDHockey

I think as the race wore on, people were seeking some respite from the sun and heat. At the beginning of the race there were more people in the north grandstands (or anywhere in the sun). Indy claimed it was a bigger crowd than 2015 or last year. Certainly not on a par with 2016, though. When it is in the low 90s those grandstands are just brutal. My sister suffered a pretty serious case of heat exhaustion at the 400 there in the early 2000s when the air temp was supposedly upper 80s.

Agreed. It was claimed to be another fantastic crowd supporting the claim of an Indy500 revival of sorts. TV numbers went down again though - even with Danica!

Originally Posted by Greg Ambrose on 3/7/2010

The fact that you BC fans revel in the superiority of your team in an admittedly weak league leads me to believe you will be more sorely disappointed when the end comes than we will.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

Originally Posted by WeAreNDHockey

I think as the race wore on, people were seeking some respite from the sun and heat. At the beginning of the race there were more people in the north grandstands (or anywhere in the sun). Indy claimed it was a bigger crowd than 2015 or last year. Certainly not on a par with 2016, though. When it is in the low 90s those grandstands are just brutal. My sister suffered a pretty serious case of heat exhaustion at the 400 there in the early 2000s when the air temp was supposedly upper 80s.

When the race started, the crowd did look better than last year which had large areas of empty seats. But certainly still not full and not as good as 2016.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

Not surprised at all. There's been various moves lately which suggests something afoot. And no doubt, Alonso has given up on McLaren's ability to build a winning F1 car (it wasn't all Honda after all) ... and he has nowhere else to go (mainly because nobody wants him with his team upsetting personality).

If he does switch to Indy cars in 2019, he will probably have a difficult time finishing out the WEC super season.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

Originally Posted by Russell Jaslow

When the race started, the crowd did look better than last year which had large areas of empty seats. But certainly still not full and not as good as 2016.

Yes, not as good as 2016, but some long time observers say the 2016 crowd may have been one of, if not THE, biggest ever. The numbers often quoted from the 70s and 80s are now believed to be mostly wildly over inflated and done for PR purposes as much as anything.

There are more grandstand seats now than in the 70s and 80s as well, although there are fewer than the the 257,000 there were at the height of the Brickyard 400's popularity, about 235,000 today. When ABC used to say there were more than 400,000 present, as they did frequently in the 80s, that meant there had to be more than 200,000 in the infield, something that Indy officials admit privately was never the case.

The 2016 race sold out every seat, the 235,000 permanent ones, as well as the temporary seats set up in the infield. The general admission crowd in the infield may not have been as big as it was during it's heyday, but it was not just a small fraction of it either. The 2016 race had a truly historic crowd.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

McLaren is getting serious about INDYCAR. Zak Brown and Gil de Ferran will meet with prospective partners in Detroit this weekend.

Meanwhile, with Scuderia Corsa wanting to ramp up their involvement comes this little nugget per racer.com: Ferrari boss Marrichone (sp?) was at the 500 and rumors say it wasn’t just to enjoy the race.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

Originally Posted by solovsfett

McLaren is getting serious about INDYCAR. Zak Brown and Gil de Ferran will meet with prospective partners in Detroit this weekend.

Meanwhile, with Scuderia Corsa wanting to ramp up their involvement comes this little nugget per racer.com: Ferrari boss Marrichone (sp?) was at the 500 and rumors say it wasn’t just to enjoy the race.

Marrchione is FCA's entire boss, so it could be a way to expand Fiat-Chrysler's racing into Indy car- and there is at least history for Maserati at the Brick Yard. Otherwise, I would put it at a pretty weak threat to walk away. Ferrari has already shown that they will invest millions of dollars to get more money out of Formula One by making them think they will leave to CART. The stance of each formula is very different now than in the late 90's, so I'd totally call their bluff if it's fully about F1.

I don't understand why McLaren needs a distraction like Indycar. Unless they just HAVE to keep Alonso on their payroll. In the history of the two series, there was a short period where a car maker could field competitive cars in both series. And that time was 40 years ago.

Marrchione is FCA's entire boss, so it could be a way to expand Fiat-Chrysler's racing into Indy car- and there is at least history for Maserati at the Brick Yard. Otherwise, I would put it at a pretty weak threat to walk away. Ferrari has already shown that they will invest millions of dollars to get more money out of Formula One by making them think they will leave to CART. The stance of each formula is very different now than in the late 90's, so I'd totally call their bluff if it's fully about F1.

I don't understand why McLaren needs a distraction like Indycar. Unless they just HAVE to keep Alonso on their payroll. In the history of the two series, there was a short period where a car maker could field competitive cars in both series. And that time was 40 years ago.

I know Enzo wanted a car at INDY but it never came to fruition. Regardless of what comes of those talks, if it results in a new engine manufacturer that’s great news.

...If I was in F1 i’d be ****ed at Ferarri’s Almost annual Brett Favre-esque threats to leave. Red Bull and Mercedes should tell em’ “Leave, see ya”

Re: McLaren... tough to say what the ultimate goal is. Permanent Indycar presence and eventually moving from satellite to their own team? Just farming Alonso for 2 years until they have F1 in order? Or are they in danger of becoming like Williams and Indy is a way to get back to winning quicker?

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

I know Enzo wanted a car at INDY but it never came to fruition. Regardless of what comes of those talks, if it results in a new engine manufacturer that’s great news.

...If I was in F1 i’d be ****ed at Ferarri’s Almost annual Brett Favre-esque threats to leave. Red Bull and Mercedes should tell em’ “Leave, see ya”

Re: McLaren... tough to say what the ultimate goal is. Permanent Indycar presence and eventually moving from satellite to their own team? Just farming Alonso for 2 years until they have F1 in order? Or are they in danger of becoming like Williams and Indy is a way to get back to winning quicker?

I saw Enzo's "want" as blackmail to get more stuff. The engine did come to fruition- and was re-badged Alfa Romeo. As for current engines and "image"- what Indycar has and can help FCA is more for Alfa or Maserati. Ferrari needs no help here in the US. At least how I see it. It would be interesting to see a third engine, and even better if they got more car makers. But I would 100% separate the chassis from the engine in terms of branding it. Just like in CART where you had March, Lola, Reynard, Penske, etc and Cosworth, Ilmore, Mercedes, Honda, etc. You could mix and match to your budget. But that is for a different thread.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

The indy race today was quite good. Plenty of passing. Scott Dixon had his car set up really stiff. It helped and his tires did not go off like most people's did. Plenty to do, lots of people, and a great day for racing. I was surprised how much negative camber the teams had in the front end. Even by eye you could see it.
A couple of the teams were still working on the set up only 1/2 hour before the race. that's not normally good.

We'll see what is going to happen tomorrow.
Oh and Wickens was on the rev limiter quite a bit. He was a lot faster than his finishing place but he didn't sheppard his tires and they went off very quickly. He was lucky he wasn't passed at the end there.

Re: Open Wheel Racing 2018- with less winglets.

Originally Posted by Twitch Boy

Well, that was effective advertising for the ZR1...

In that guy's defense, that monstrosity will roast the tires if you look at it funny.

That was something else. Surprised they are ok, that was some serious force they hit the wall with and you could see their heads go flying forward briefly. Also surprised the driver was not wearing a helmet/HANS. When I went out on my hot lap at Pocono we were all required to do so.

Happy for RHR. Amazing that his last win was 2015 Pocono and he never really had a chance to enjoy that with the death of his teammate (at the time he was alive but it was grave news).

Also good to see Dixon get on the board. The championship race is tightening up! Rossi really blew it, he was warned to think big picture and really left a ton of points on the table there. HUGE championship implications with his mistake.

Originally Posted by Greg Ambrose on 3/7/2010

The fact that you BC fans revel in the superiority of your team in an admittedly weak league leads me to believe you will be more sorely disappointed when the end comes than we will.